American chef's charcoal-grilled pork banh mi draws a 2-hour wait every day in Saigon

In Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Phong ward, there's a banh mi stall where you can't get served without lining up for two hours from the morning. It sells just one item, charcoal-grilled pork banh mi, priced at 88,000 dong (about 500 yen) each. American chef Chad Kubanoff opened this small sidewalk stand outside his own home on August 3. For travelers hunting a single must-try stop in Saigon, and for locals curious about the neighborhood's new favorite, here's what's behind the line.

In a city where street banh mi can be had for tens of thousands of dong, why do people wait two hours for one item priced at more than double that? The answer isn't the price or the buzz — it's the charcoal-grilled pork itself.

One item, 50 a day, gone within an hour of opening at a sidewalk stand

Kubanoff's stand has no menu board — just one item, charcoal-grilled pork banh mi. He prepares 50 a day, using up 10 kilograms of pork. The stand opens at 9 AM, but customers start lining up at 8, and on some days it takes two hours from the back of the line to get served. There's no dedicated shop — just a charcoal grill set up on the sidewalk beside the house where he and his wife live.

“I never expected it to be this popular. All 50 sold out in an hour,” Kubanoff says, still surprised. His Vietnamese wife, Thuy, says, “I feel bad making people wait this long. But seeing how patiently they still line up tells me they really like the taste.” Nothing is made ahead of time — the meat goes on the charcoal to order — so each one takes time, and the line never shrinks.

Ten years running a Vietnamese restaurant in the U.S., and the signature dish was always grilled pork

Kubanoff is 38. He's lived in Vietnam for 10 years and lives here with his Vietnamese wife and children. Before moving to Vietnam, he ran a Vietnamese restaurant in the U.S., where the best-selling item was always grilled pork banh mi. Having already found that it appealed to both local and international customers, he didn't hesitate to build his fresh start in Saigon around this same one item.

He has another side to him too. He runs a YouTube channel introducing Vietnamese street food, with over 130,000 subscribers. Having spent years eating his way through the city's food stalls himself, he's now the one standing on the street grilling the pork. Vietnamese tasters who've tried it have given it as high as 8.5 out of 10. The appeal of this stand comes down to a foreigner winning over local palates with a Vietnamese classic.

The 88,000 dong comes down to an overnight marinade, caramel basting, and charcoal

The price reflects the labor involved. The pork is marinated overnight starting the evening before. While grilling, it's brushed with caramel and splashed with water along the way over the charcoal. That gives it a fragrant, charred surface while keeping the inside moist. The sauce is a house-made mayonnaise with a light kick. Rather than using pre-made grilled pork, running every step — charcoal, marinade, and finishing — through each individual piece is what produces both the above-market price and the two-hour line.

In Saigon, where a standard banh mi can be had for tens of thousands of dong, 88,000 dong looks like a bold price. But even among other “expensive banh mi,” this one has a different color from places where the buzz comes first. A Michelin-listed shop's$8 wagyu banh misparked controversy over the price itself, whereas Kubanoff's stand builds its price on the labor of the cooking method rather than the ingredients. It's a similar shape to thebanh mi thit nuong that sold for $28 in New Yorkafter crossing overseas — one more sign that banh mi is expanding its territory from “cheap snack” to “a dish worth lining up for.”

Tan Phong ward, opens 9 AM, 88,000 dong — a quick-reference guide before you go

Exchange rate estimated at 1 yen ≈ 175 dong, US$1 ≈ 148 yen (88,000 dong = about 500 yen, US$3.36). Rates fluctuate with the market.

What people will pay for “street flavor” — a question that resonates with Japanese food-lovers too

What this stand shows is that even a street-food item can win customers on price and wait time, as long as the maker's story and effort come through. A foreigner who has spent 10 years documenting Vietnamese food, grilling each piece over charcoal himself instead of relying on premade product — that transparency is what turns the above-market price into something people accept. For Japanese travelers on a food tour, it offers a different kind of pleasure from banh mi shops that compete on being cheap. For comparing banh mi with prices attached, reading it alongsidea price-tagged tour of Hoi An's famous banh mi shopswill give you a feel for how prices vary by region.

For anyone planning to actually go, here are a few points worth keeping in mind.

• To be sure of getting one, plan to arrive by 8 AM, before the 9 AM opening.
• With only 50 made a day and a sellout within about an hour of opening, showing up in the early afternoon likely means missing out.
• The menu is just one item, charcoal-grilled pork banh mi. Don't expect drinks or side dishes — go specifically for this one item.
• Because each one is grilled to order over charcoal, service takes time even when the line looks short. Avoid it if you're in a hurry.
• It's an outdoor sidewalk stand, so come prepared for sun and heat while you wait.

The stand only opened on August 3, so it's too early to say whether the line will keep going or fade away. But as long as he keeps grilling the same small daily batch of 50 over charcoal, showing up in the morning looks like the only way in for now, for anyone in Saigon wanting to try this new benchmark for grilled pork banh mi, heading to Tan Phong ward in the cool of the morning is the way to go.

Sources

• VnExpress International — Two-hour wait for grilled pork banh mi by American chef in Ho Chi Minh City
• CNBC — Chef Chad Kubanoff moved to Vietnam a decade ago